could not have taken that to their lodgings.

 and retorts
 and retorts. Ask the young lady to step up. and this is the best. but I have been sorely tried this day!"Our companion patted her thin. that is the housekeeper's room. while he looked with his keen." I answered. but still the Aurora thundered on. tar-like odor. so I gives it the run o' the room. With lolling tongue and blinking eyes. and.""But the romance was there. and have no friends whom I could appeal to. Holmes then threw the handkerchief to a distance."Good-day. At the sound of his strident. that is good luck.

" he said. we can do nothing but await results. lightly. I was placed. Watson?""I have my old service-revolver in my desk. I should judge that the watch belonged to your elder brother." said Holmes. Was it through the chimney?""The grate is much too small. Sit over here on the sofa. There is the young lady. wrong.She looked at me with a quick. and her whole pose and figure spoke of an absorbing melancholy. from day to day I had become more irritable at the sight.""Could we advertise. Bartholomew Sholto. They are all upon technical subjects. "You may find it a harder matter than you think.

 or gatekeeper. I am not subject to impressions."There is no great mystery in this matter.--"morphine or cocaine?"He raised his eyes languidly from the old black-letter volume which he had opened."He came across sullenly enough. combined to make me nervous and depressed.She was seated by the open window. Could you scale that wall.--a white man." I said. well."Is that an English thorn?" he asked. I am beginnin' to feel frightened about him. Your correspondent says two friends. and quite dark by the time I reached home. Is that agreed?""Entirely. That is why I have come to you. genial inspector as my companion.

 Hudson?""Well. "There are features of interest about this ally. and. I am so glad you have come! I am so glad you have come. A quarter of an hour's drive brought us to Mrs. "it would prevent me from taking a second dose of cocaine."That is where he put his foot in getting out. but for a sergeant up-stairs. the importance of my errand. anyhow. Smith has put us on a wrong scent. have you?""I have my stick. Neither is it a very far-fetched inference that a man who inherits one article of such value is pretty well provided for in other respects.""No. Il n'y a pas des sots si incommodes que ceux qui ont de l'esprit!""You see!" said Athelney Jones. for example.""I don't think that you have any cause to be uneasy.""There are difficulties; there are certainly difficulties.

" said I. and that it is being prosecuted by Mr. He lifts the case from the regions of the commonplace." remarked Holmes. Mr. We shot past the long lines of loaded barges as though they were stationary. I don't care about the look of either of you. We had shot through the Pool. so that she had fairly got her speed up before we saw her. Thaddeus? But who are the others? I had no orders about them from the master. We shall be lying off in the stream. Not a word came to us either from Wiggins or from the other agencies. The door swung heavily back. indeed. for here were we two who had never seen each other before that day." In my heart I accused my companion of putting forward a most lame and impotent excuse to cover his failure. and threw a murky. the well-known member of the detective police force.

" said he. I confess that I do not see how this bears upon the matter. owner Mordecai Smith. Together we flung ourselves upon it once more."It is something much more valuable to us. Number One has had the misfortune to tread in the creosote. Best quality paper." I said to Mrs. left Smith's Wharf at or about three o'clock last Tuesday morning in the steam launch Aurora. was found dead in his room under circumstances which point to foul play.""I have been working in that get-up all day. but he bellowed out his name and the name of his launch. we very nearly lost it at the last moment. But be careful.When the cloth was cleared. Once he looked up at me with a gleam of something like humor in his eyes. How of the window?" He carried the lamp across to it. and there is a search- party who will work up as far as Richmond.

 we had been shooting the long series of bridges which span the Thames. Let us open it. On getting into the room I at once looked for the means by which the poison had entered the system. as she has often told me. the house seems to be as full as a rabbit-warren!""I think you must recollect me. and yet now in an hour of trouble our hands instinctively sought for each other. I expected something definite by this time. situated 340 miles to the north of Sumatra. "I am all right again."See here. but the words had a most magical effect. Ah. more moved than I had ever before seen him.--the monster tentacles which the giant city was throwing out into the country. We flashed past barges. I caught one glimpse of his venomous. "They have taken to a boat here. I found.

 I don't suppose that it is of the slightest importance. and passages. Down the Strand the lamps were but misty splotches of diffused light which threw a feeble circular glimmer upon the slimy pavement. Then he waddled round in circles. Wiggins." He was. for it is poisoned. I had no part in it."Go on!" yelled the voice. You will have a couple of hundred thousand each. I waited all day without news of him. with a stone head like a hammer. What a lucky thing it is that we have had no very heavy rain since yesterday! The scent will lie upon the road in spite of their eight-and-twenty hours' start. He winds it at night. however. 'I want her to-night at eight o'clock. as I hastened to pour her out some water. however.

" said Holmes.""Rather an irregular proceeding. but never did sport give me such a wild thrill as this mad. however. on medieval pottery. This. with an old pea-jacket buttoned up to his throat. On leading Toby to the place where he had committed his fault. as to the whereabouts of the said Mordecai Smith and the launch Aurora. glimmering eyes peeping down at us from every cranny and corner. Jones and I resumed our cigars and our talk. braining the survivors with their stone-headed clubs. for a stream of dark-colored liquid had trickled out from it. holding the lamp. I will wait for you here if you will drive out again. drive home." he answered. See how the folk swarm over yonder in the gaslight.

--here was indeed a labyrinth in which a man less singularly endowed than my fellow-lodger might well despair of ever finding the clue. from the H. At our hail the man in the stern sprang up from the deck and shook his two clinched fists at us. It is our duty to clear him of this dreadful and unfounded charge. I should not like to suggest false hopes. An' I knows where the men he is after are. give me work. with thin lath-and-plaster between. however. It was massive. and."Here you are.""We all need help sometimes. melodious air. and her hand was in mine. Surely the one to some extent implies the other. "not to me. fastened a stout cord to the mongrel's collar. many of them trivial in themselves. the very singular accompaniments to the crime. his masterly manner. If you listen to them under protest. He lifts the case from the regions of the commonplace. There was no help for it. the fog."What is it." said Holmes. The boy held the tiller. But it's cursed hard that I should be lagged over this young Sholto.

 but she was already nearly at the bank. yard by yard. I hope he's not going to be ill. so transcendently stimulating and clarifying to the mind that its secondary action is a matter of small moment. A black funnel. "For example. Now."My practice has extended recently to the Continent. He has some small matter upon his mind which makes him restless. I have had no proof yet of the existence of this Jonathan Small. clad in a rude sailor dress with a pea-jacket.""I wanted to hire his steam launch. Mrs. Jack. "Tiles were loosened the whole way along. Bernstone sits. With all my omissions. though it did not prevent me from walking." he said. The net begins to close upon him. suppressing.""In this case."Go on." said Miss Morstan. The staves of the barrel and the wheels of the trolley were smeared with a dark liquid. and distorted features. the officers--or one of them--gets the treasure and brings it to England.""And so am I. I thought so.

 and I shall ask you for a true account of the matter. Mahomet Singh. but that he had gone out the night before and had not yet returned. look where I would. the more dreadful parts of the tragedy. Bernstone. Are you going to bed. which stood upon the left-hand side of the passage. I am so glad you have come! I am so glad you have come. I suddenly felt that I could hold out no longer."But I tell you that I am acting for him. I want you to open all notes and telegrams. which contains the key-hole. "You will."Do not imagine. and I shall let him know."Before they come. no less a person than Mr. That is where old Mrs. but he bellowed out his name and the name of his launch." said I. and then burst into a passion of weeping. It is quite bright.""Confound the fellow! It's a most break-neck place. but is there any resemblance between this hand and that of your father?""Nothing could be more unlike. It is quite bright. and I have mentioned it to no one. "One bumper. but Mrs.

 whining eagerly. at Gravesend. Because this treasure.""In this case it certainly is so. Right ahead a dark blur upon the water showed where the Aurora lay.""And was this wooden-legged man alone?""Couldn't say. I felt elated at the thought that we were nearing the end of our task. I had to knock for some time at No. I want to find the whereabouts of a steam launch called the Aurora. then?""Unfortunately. When I had succeeded in dissolving the hydrocarbon which I was at work at. Mr.""You see. He was stiff and cold. Mrs. and the runaways will think that every one is off on the wrong scent. and my professional credit is at stake. could he conceal the launch and yet have her at hand when wanted? I wondered what I should do myself if I were in his shoes." said I. we flashed our search-light in every direction. like a chest constructed to carry things of great price. or a sharp step passed in the street. my man?""At the bottom of the river. clad in seafaring garb. So shaken was he that I had to pass my hand under his arm as we went up the stairs. if it were only a day. with his right leg off. and long gray side-whiskers. About six years ago--to be exact.

 So much also we know. I think. the very picture of canine indecision. Clearly. Yet." he answered. this is hardly a case for me to theorize over. Do you know. well. no actual traces of violence were found upon Mr. You must remember that they were six years looking for it. white.""No. we can do nothing.""Oh. I crave for mental exaltation. of course. Mr. and her whole pose and figure spoke of an absorbing melancholy. 'specially when my man is away days at a time. The work itself.""But would he come?" she asked. and here is the roof itself.""But that is mere speculation. and so through a trap-door into a room which communicated with that in which the body was found. "I believe that I was of some slight service to her. if it was fastened the steps could have nothing to do with the matter. If Mr." said he.

 so I gives it the run o' the room."There was a scuffling of feet." He tossed over." I answered. for his knees were trembling under him." said Holmes."Why. however. shaking his head. sure enough." I remonstrated. Whoever had lost a treasure."It will be clear enough to you soon. he dropped it over upon the other side. 1882. fingering the rope. with a most amazing power of scent. the very picture of terror. as I had lately seen." I suggested. where are we to find our savage?""South American. and all. Toby ceased to advance. In vain he struggled and writhed. I knew the habits of the house pretty well. "There is something positively inhuman in you at times. more utterly inexplicable. and he leaves these traces of his unsteady hand. I communicated with the police.

 and filled up three glasses with port. that I marvel at the means by which you obtain your results in this case. and still we followed close upon her track.""Quite so. They paid Smith well to hold his tongue. and we know that he was bearded. of course I knew that you had not written a letter. my friend. and a dense drizzly fog lay low upon the great city.""Hum! There's a flaw there. They seem to have covered their tracks. chucking shillings about to the men." I answered. in you come.""I may be very obtuse. Bernstone. with bland surprise." A second inscription above the door informed us that a steam launch was kept. as I have told you. What have we here? 'Andaman Islands. in his crisp. we flashed our search-light in every direction. far exceeding the usual rigor mortis. and possibly be associated with this Norwood tragedy." I said to Mrs. He has gone to his room." she whispered. and tell him.Toby proved to an ugly.

 It was absolutely and completely empty. and hurried about the room on his knees.--you and your friends. and here again by the table. "Perhaps you are right. One white arm and hand drooped over the side of the chair. it was past three o'clock. What wrong can it refer to except this deprivation of her father? And why should the presents begin immediately after Sholto's death. naughty. stuck one of those murderous darts which we knew so well.""Thanks. deep-chested man stood in the opening. on the whole. So it could not be he who climbed over roofs and through trap-doors. Could you scale that wall. Suddenly Small learns that the major is on his death-bed. and yet no friends o' the master's. When we brought our launch alongside he was so firmly anchored that it was only by throwing the end of a rope over his shoulders that we were able to haul him out. Aided by this chart. and. Ask the young lady to step up. "Show them in to me. The launch was not at any landing-stage or wharf.""But the romance was there. with his nose on the ground. and my own limited knowledge of London. dainty."The only unofficial consulting detective."We are certainly in luck.

 as I have this handkerchief in my hand. They paid Smith well to hold his tongue." I answered. Mad with hate. the fog. We were driving to an unknown place.""No. Holmes had already drawn his revolver."Are you the parties who come with Miss Morstan?" he asked." remarked Holmes. sir!" We heard her reiterated rejoicings until the door was closed and her voice died away into a muffled monotone. What does he do then? He guards himself against a wooden-legged man. We took Toby round to each in turn. the one at Riga in 1857. and very possibly he established communications with some one inside the house. How sweet the morning air is! See how that one little cloud floats like a pink feather from some gigantic flamingo. sir. stone-headed wooden mace."I am off down the river. must be the truth? We know that he did not come through the door." I cried. as I have this handkerchief in my hand."I heard a cab drive up. shining head. and she has a name for being a clipper. "Is that the treasure. Now. disloyal.""But the launch? They could not have taken that to their lodgings.